What happened at his official visit at MSU that has Malik McDowel's mom so set against him going to MSU?

February 5th, 2014, 10:24 am

Pablo

RIP Killer

Joined: August 6th, 2004, 9:21 amPosts: 10004Location: Dallas

Re: National signing day.

BillySims wrote:

What happened at his official visit at MSU that has Malik McDowel's mom so set against him going to MSU?

I don't follow Nat'l signing day, but there is a little info in this freep article about him...

Sounds like something happened to her in East Lansing, however, and not her son that turned her off. Maybe the DL coach said something, she seems not to like him. Let's face it, State now has their own way of doing things and they would rather have a committed 3-star recruit who is tough and will work hard than some super talented self absorbed 4-or-5-star recruit who wants to be pampered and be guaranteed a starting spot as a freshman.

From what I see, Mama's boy needs to step up and make a decision for himself. Whose mom says “I think it’s best he leaves the state.” Go ahead, be a Buckeye and please your mama...

Quote:

EAST LANSING — Score a big one for the Spartans, with perhaps more to come before football recruits can start faxing in their signed letters of intent Wednesday.

That’s also the day a strange recruitment that has become a public display of child-parent disagreement will end — not in Michigan State’s favor, it increasingly appears.

But today went the Spartans’ way when defensive tackle Craig Evans of Sun Prairie, Wis., announced on Twitter his switch from Wisconsin to MSU. The 6-foot-2, 313-pound Evans is ranked the No. 11 defensive tackle in the nation by Rivals.com.

Evans tweeted: “As you all may have heard I'm no longer a badger and no it's not about the academics just the best decision for me ....And if your a fan of me be a fan of me despite wherever I go and with (that) being said I have officially committed to MSU #GoGreenGoWhite”

Evans is the 21st member of MSU’s 2014 class and enhances what was already a stocked defensive line haul for a Mark Dantonio program coming off a 13-1 season. The offensive line could get a big boost Tuesday if tackle Jamarco Jones of Chicago De La Salle chooses the Spartans.

Jones is an Ohio State commitment, but he visited MSU over the weekend and could become the second flip of the week for the Spartans. MSU also is still in the hunt for safety T.J. Harrell of Tampa Catholic and defensive tackle Daniel Cage of Cincinnati Winton Woods.

The Spartans are right in it for Southfield defensive lineman Malik McDowell as well – but if he chooses MSU on Wednesday morning, it will be against his parents’ wishes.

“We don’t want him at MSU,” Malik’s mother, Joya Crowe, said Monday night, and she gave multiple reasons.

“Something happened, I don’t want to put it out there what it was,” she said of her son’s recent official visit, “but I had a bad experience at MSU.”

Asked to elaborate, she said: “It was something on my end, I don’t want to get into specifics.”

Crowe said she and Malik’s father, Greg McDowell, also fear “too much social life” at MSU.

“I want him to get a good education,” Crowe said. “Not that he can’t get a good education at MSU. But he also wants to be a first-round pick after college. Nothing is guaranteed, but I don’t think their defensive line coach has the background for that.”

Ron Burton, who just finished his first season as MSU’s defensive line coach, played four seasons in the NFL from 1987-90. His MSU bio said he sent one defensive lineman to the NFL in 10 seasons as defensive line coach at Air Force — though Air Force is not known as a haven for future NFL players.

Greg McDowell told 247Sports.com of his son’s recruitment and MSU: “You have to be somewhere you have less distractions and be around people that do what you do, go to class, be football players, be a student-athlete. That’s the environment I want him to be around, and not be in close proximity to his friends. I want him out of Michigan. I don’t care if that’s Ohio State or Florida State.”

Crowe said she would be OK with her son choosing U-M but agreed that “I think it’s best he leaves the state.”

In a video interview Monday with Rivals.com, Malik said of MSU: “I like a lot about the Spartans. I like Coach (Dantonio), Coach (Pat) Narduzzi and Coach Burton a lot, and Coach (Terry) Samuel, too. Just the team atmosphere, I like the school atmosphere. Just the overall school, pretty much.”

He also said last weekend’s official visit to OSU helped him know the coaches better, that Florida State’s coaches are “energetic” and that “Michigan just speaks for itself, pretty much.”

Asked if he’s most comfortable with MSU, Malik said: “Yeah, but some other schools are still in it.”

Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports.com is among several analysts who were projecting Malik to MSU recently, but that has changed now that the choice of MSU would amount to publicly defying his parents.

“Put yourself in the young man’s shoes,” Wiltfong said, “your parents don’t want you at a school, you’re 17 years old — it’s got to be tough.”

Though Wednesday is the start of the signing period, Malik is not mandated to sign that day. It’s possible his process could extend beyond that, though when Rivals.com asked if he’ll be ready to make a “clean decision” Wednesday, he said: “I believe so.”

And Crowe said that decision still could end up being Michigan State.

“Anything is possible,” she said. “I hope not but it’s possible. It’ll be one of the hats on the table. I hope he makes the right decision.”

Update: Shortly before 10 a.m. Wednesday, Southfield, Mich., defensive end Malik McDowell, considered a five star prospect in the high school class of 2014, signed with Michigan State.

McDowell's father Greg, speaking immediately prior to the ceremony, said it remained his preference that his son leave the state for his college education, but that he supported his son's choice regardless of what it may be.

McDowell chose the Spartans over Ohio State, Florida State, Michigan and a host of other schools. McDowell said he listened to his family's input but made his own choice. He said he loves Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio.

So as teams across the country sign players Wednesday, here’s a look back at where the Detroit Lions were ranked when they were high school seniors. For rankings from 2006 forward, the rankings used are ESPN’s rankings. From 2002 to 2006, we used the Rivals.com rankings.

In some cases, no rankings were available. If something is not denoted as coming from another site, it is ESPN’s ranking from that year.

What you’ll see is most of Detroit’s players were not highly-rated players coming out of high school. Some had no ranking at all. Just goes to show how blue chip recruits in high school don’t always turn into top-level college or NFL players.

This post covers the offense. The next post will cover the defense and specialists.

•Quarterbacks: •Matthew Stafford (Class of 2006): No. 1 quarterback; No. 5 overall player. Signed with Georgia.•Shaun Hill: Not ranked (came out before rankings were available) but there is this fascinating story about his recruiting backstory from the Baltimore Sun in 2000.•Kellen Moore (Class of 2007): No. 162 quarterback. Signed with Boise State.

Running backs: •Reggie Bush (2003): No. 1 running back per Rivals.com; No. 2 overall player per Rivals.com. Signed with USC.•Joique Bell (2005): Not listed anywhere among the Rivals rankings for the 2005 class. Signed with Wayne State.•Theo Riddick (2009): No. 48 athlete; No. 65 in his region (the Northeast). Signed with Notre Dame.•Mikel Leshoure (2008): Not ranked at all by the ESPN rankings. No. 28 running back by Rivals.com. Signed with Illinois.•Montell Owens (2002): No information on his recruitment was available. Signed with Maine.•Steven Miller (2009): Not rated in 2009 out of high school when he signed with Nassau Community College. Not rated in 2011 when he signed with Appalachian State.

Wide Receivers:

•Calvin Johnson (2004): No. 6 wide receiver by Rivals.com and No. 37 overall player. (If you’re curious, Early Doucet was the No. 1 receiver in his class according to Rivals.) Signed with Georgia Tech.•Nate Burleson (2000): Can’t find a ranking for Burleson from 2000, but here’s an interesting story about his recruitment from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Signed with Nevada.•Kris Durham (2006): No. 66 receiver. No. 200 player in his region. Signed with Georgia.•Kevin Ogletree (2005): No. 59 wide receiver according to Rivals.com. Signed with Virginia.•Jeremy Ross (2006): No. 174 wide receiver. Signed with Cal.•Micheal Spurlock (2001): Nothing available from a rankings or story perspective. Signed with Mississippi.•Ryan Broyles (2007): Rated as the No. 58 wide receiver in his class. Signed with Oklahoma.•Cody Wilson (2009): Not rated in 2009. Signed with Central Michigan.•Corey Fuller (2008): Not rated by either service. Signed with Kansas on a track scholarship. Transferred to Virginia Tech for football. Was an indoor All-American in track in high school.•Patrick Edwards (2007): Not rated by either service. Was a walk-on at Houston.

Tight ends:

•Brandon Pettigrew (2004): Was not ranked by Rivals.com with a number. A two-star recruit by Rivals. Signed with Oklahoma State.•Joseph Fauria (2008): No. 15 tight end. Signed with Notre Dame (eventually transferred to UCLA).•Michael Williams (2008): No. 26 tight end and No. 20 player in Alabama. Signed with Alabama.•Matt Veldman (2007): Not rated by ESPN or by Rivals. Signed with North Dakota State.•Dorin Dickerson (2006): No. 11 wide receiver in his class and No. 74 prospect overall.

Offensive linemen:

•Dominic Raiola (1997): No available recruiting rankings, but he was the first player from Hawaii to accept a scholarship to Nebraska, according to the Nebraska website.•Rob Sims (2002): No. 20 offensive guard according to Rivals.com. Signed with Ohio State.•Riley Reiff (2008): Rated as the No. 84 defensive end. Signed with Iowa.•Larry Warford (2009): Rated as the No. 51 offensive guard. Signed with Kentucky.•Corey Hilliard (2003): Not rated by number as an offensive tackle in his class by Rivals.com. Rated as a two-star recruit. Signed with Oklahoma State.•Jason Fox (2006): Rated as the No. 22 tight end. Signed with Miami (Fla.).•Leroy Harris (2002): Rated as the No. 42 defensive tackle by Rivals.com. Signed with N.C. State.•Rodney Austin (2007): Not rated by ESPN.com or Rivals in his class. Signed with Elon.•Dylan Gandy (2000): Not rated by any service I could find, but here’s an interesting story from when he was drafted with some backstory of how he ended up at Texas Tech.•LaAdrian Waddle (2009): Rated as the No. 19 offensive tackle in his class and the No. 43 player in the Midlands. Signed with Texas Tech.

Malik McDowell Reportedly Hasn't Sent His Letter of Intent to Michigan State

Malik McDowell, a coveted 5-star defensive end, says he's going to Michigan State. He did so publicly at a press conference held on national signing day at Southfield High School (Southfield, Mich.), which was specifically held so that he could announce his future destination.

However, it seems like McDowell isn't quite ready to make that announcement official by signing his name on the dotted line. Matt Charboneau of the The Detroit News reported that McDowell was not included on the list of Spartans Class of 2014 commits handed out to media Wednesday, Feb. 5, because the school has not yet received his national letter of intent: Matt Charboneau @mattcharboneauFollow

MSU hands out its list of 2014 recruits and Malik McDowell is not included.4:24 PM - 5 Feb 2014Later in the evening the Free Press updated their list with his name, but with a disclaimer that his letter had still not been sent to Michigan State.

NCAA rules prohibit schools and coaches from mentioning players specifically by name who are not contractually committed to the school. Speaking of his recruiting class, which checks in at No. 25 in 247Sports' composite rankings , coach Mark Dantonio cryptically referred to his two "for now" defensive-end signees and generally mentioned kids on the fence who had not yet sent in their LOI, per Charboneau: Matt Charboneau @mattcharboneauFollow

Dantonio talks about "other guys on the fence who have not signed papers yet." Very excited about those guys4:52 PM - 5 Feb 2014Without a signed national letter of intent, players are not contractually obligated to any school regardless of their public comments. There will be nothing preventing McDowell from signing his letter of national intent after Wednesday's proverbial "signing day." While an overwhelming majority of prep stars prefer to solidify their futures at the first opportunity, the NCAA's signing period lasts until April 1 for football players.

McDowell can sign and fax his LOI to East Lansing anytime between now and then, assuming the Spartans do not rescind his scholarship offer.

Still, with McDowell looking like one of the many who were committed on the first day possible, one has to wonder what happened.

He chose Michigan State over fellow finalists Michigan, Ohio State and Florida State. He also chose the Spartans against the wishes of his parents, who have both stated they hoped their son would go elsewhere.

“I took a lot of input from my family,” McDowell said, per Joe Rexrode and Mike Brudenell of the Detroit Free Press. “I listened to what they said. But I still had to make my own decision.”Despite his objections, Greg McDowell, Malik's father, backed his son and acted at the press conference as if the ink had already dried on the letter of intent.

“I feel good about the decision," Greg McDowell said. "My son, he stood up and said, ‘Hey, this is where I want to be.’ And despite my reservations and his mom’s reservations, I fully support my son. He showed me a lot today, he stood firm and didn’t back down from anything."

The reason for the delay is unclear at this time. It could be something as simple as not getting to a fax machine in time for Dantonio's press conference. Or McDowell's parents could have made one last-ditch push for him to go elsewhere, or perhaps even the young man himself instantly regretted the decision.

Last year, a similarly strange situation played itself out when Arkansas running-back commit Alex Collins' mother stole his letter of intent and prohibited him from sending it. Collins' mother eventually acquiesced and he gained 1,026 yards as a freshman with the Razorbacks.

Odds are, if McDowell's parents are holding out in similar fashion, this situation will work itself out. If McDowell has changed his mind himself, however, expect a rabid chase from now until the next press conference.